Through The Lens

The North Lake Chapters

My new ticket started on April 1st (just before the Easter Weekend), so I decided to wait for the rush to pass and do my first night the following week. I spent this session in the Fighting Post swim. With eight people still on midweek, it had kind of felt like a game of musical chairs to secure a main swim and avoid getting stuck in a corner, but nothing much happened through the session and I left having just enjoyed being there. 

It was a fortnight before I was able to get back over. I made my way clockwise around the lake and chose to bucket the Fighting Post again as there was a bitterly cold easterly wind blowing across the pond, but this swim was on the back of it and was almost a different climate. With the swim secured, I continued on my lap. Standing on the freezing cold windward bank and with nothing else to go on, I settled on the Fighting Post.

During my drive over, this swim had been on my mind; it was on the back of the wind, commands some secluded and sheltered water around the islands and has the bonus of a bay behind it (giving me the chance to listen out for signs and potentially fish either side of the spit). It offered a lot of options when I had nothing else to go on. 
I set about clipping the rods up to the same spots as my first trip, fishing two wafters amongst the islands and walking along the stock pond to catapult a light spread of 12mm krill around them.

I felt confident as night drew closer but also kept an eye on the rest of the lake for signs of fish. To my surprise, I did see two shows on the end of that freezing wind right up alongside the island in front of the Corral swim. I thought about moving but the light was fading fast by this point and I had no knowledge of that swim, so figured I'd leave it til the morning to reassess.

The night passed quietly for me and at first light I again saw fish showing off the island in front of the Corral. So with nothing to lose, I got packed up and was quickly on my toes round to the Corral. Two rods were sent out to the right of the island with bright pop ups on spinners. I managed an hour before I could take no more, the cold winds were just unbearable and I'd seen nothing more since I'd moved round, so I chucked the rods back on the barrow and went to check out the End Works bay.

I spent a bit of time watching the area, bouncing between Middle and End Works, but it was equally uninviting. I figured the bulk of the fish must be within the shelter of the islands, so I trundled back round to the south end of the lake eventually taking a fancy to the 30/40 swim. It was so much warmer and sheltered from the bitter winds. I flicked out two pop ups, one to a snag, the other just off an island opposite. I waited it out as long as I could but nothing materialised and the swans were beginning to punish the life out of me... it was time to go.

Afterwards, I'd found out that fish had been caught around the islands during my session, so I wasn't too far wrong. I couldn't help thinking that chasing shows had cost me, but I couldn't have sat in the Post watching shows down the other end of the lake and then regret not moving on them. 

When I got back to the car I realised how close I'd come to a real bad day.... 

The following week I had a work party at my Oxford syndicate after work on the Saturday and I hadn't yet sorted a wheel for my barrow, so instead of my normal mid-week session on the North, I chose to take the Mrs to the New Forest and the seaside for the day as we both needed a bit of a getaway.

A week later and I was buzzing to get back to the lake but my wheel replacement hadn't yet arrived, fortunately I do have another barrow so dug that out for this session.

The early May bank holiday had just passed and the lake had quietened once again, with just three people on. I set off on my usual route around the lake, the easterly winds that we'd been having had finally passed and the lake was pretty still. I really fancied the islands area as it was clear it was their home, but as I made my way round I found the Fighting Post and Christmas Tree (which command the majority of the water in and around the islands) were taken. The guy in the Christmas Tree told me he'd seen one show in front of him and as I continued, a member leaving Waiting Man's told me everything he'd seen had been within the islands, confirming my thoughts. So with a spring in my step, I hurriedly completed my lap with a quick chat with a guy in Main Works, I got my barrow round to the south bank. 

My options were 30/40, The Islands or Channel. I hadn't yet seen anything along this bank and was still feeling haunted by the swans in 30/40 on my last session, so I settled on the Channel. It virtually fished the same water as the Islands swim but the fact I could walk up along the stock pond meant I could fish the area more effectively, underarming rigs out and walking the rods back to the swim quietly.

I found two lovely spots, a short underarm cast saw wafters positioned perfectly around island snags with a scattering of 12mm krill catapulted over each rod. The swims on this bank aren't great for visibility of anything other than the small amount of water they each command but I felt I was fishing well and was where I stood the best chance, I just needed the fish to patrol my islands. I awoke the next morning, hoping to see the spots frothing but all hope was in vain as nothing much happened and I unfortunately had to leave by midday. 

On my journey home, I felt I had fished well and I'd actually really enjoyed my session but was really struggling with my time limitations. It seemed like I was chasing my tail by either; spending so much time looking and following them around (trying to force a bite) that I might end up snookered out of swims or, just timing out on stationary sessions, like this one. I hadn't been able to do more than 24 hours in one sitting and most of the fish had been coming out on 48/72 hour sessions. As it was, I had one chance to get it right and no real time to react to anything I'd seen until the following session, which was pointless. This stuck with me as something to think about going forward.

There had been whispers of spawning on all the lakes and with each week passing I was praying they wouldn't spawn on the North yet. I just wanted to nick one fish beforehand as the lake would be closing for a month once they started and I knew it would be a long month if I was still chasing that first bite. 

Upon arriving at the lake again, there were four vans in the car park, busier than I expected for a Tuesday but not too bad. I made my way around the lake, expecting the fish to still be very much enjoying the shelter of the islands. Once I had made the short walk around Bazil's Bush, I could see the Fighting Post was taken, with two other anglers spread along the Works bank and one in the bay. This left me so much water amongst the islands that I dropped my bucket in the Channel swim before walking back and forth between the Channel and Freezers. As I arrived in the Christmas Tree, a fish showed on the tip of the island in front, followed by a subtle roll minutes later. I was in two minds as to whether or not to go grab my bucket but as everyone I could see was already settled, I decided to carry on round and check Freezers quickly, just to rule it out. I stood on a large tree stump in Freezers' bay for a better view but it looked lifeless down that end so I made my way back to my bucket to find a guy had turned up and was now standing in the Christmas Tree with a bucket! I was fuming with myself for not going back when I had the chance but I had to rule out the rest of the lake. I calmed a little once I'd passed the guy because I knew it would have been difficult to have gotten a rod out to them without spooking them and figured it may well work in my favour as he'll likely push the fish further into the snags and islands with his casting, whereas, if I were in the Channel, I could underarm to the spots and keep everything quiet, especially if I get my rods out before him.

I barrowed the kit round to the Channel but something felt "off", I was hesitant and frustrated to the point that I didn't know what to do - still pissed at myself I guess. I left my barrow in the Channel and paced the south bank to try come up with a plan and make the best of a bad decision. After a bit of back and forth, I paused in the 30/40 at the very moment matey had cast out from the Christmas Tree. Looking through the islands, I could see he had overshot the fish by miles "he's nowhere near them". Feeling even more dejected about losing the swim, I walked back to the Channel, but my gut feeling told me the very fact I happened to be stood in the swim when matey cast out to see he was nowhere near the fish meant I had to at least chance it in the 30/40 even if just for a few hours.

I took another stroll along there and this time, there was no doubt. There were two fish bow waving close in and a swirl just off the island they had originally shown but now my side of it. If anything, I was buzzing even more than when I'd seen them from the Christmas Tree.

I quickly barrowed my kit the short distance leaving it all between the 30/40 and the Islands, well back from the fish. I set up two leadcore helicopter setups with size 4 Kamakura chod rigs, the beads pushed around 3 feet up the leader with one krill pop up and the other a bright yellow mulb. I flicked the krill hook bait down the side of the island in front and the bright one closer in - near where the bow waving had been. I slackened both rods right off with the tips up as my near margin was covered in May fluff, I tried to avoid this gathering on my lines as best I could. Once the traps were set I perched behind the rods on a bucket hoping this would be it - my first North Lake carp. I'd had to collect myself and make the best of a bad decision and persevere to eventually find this second opportunity, however, the execution still had to be perfect, but the rods went out sweet and I could do no more.

As I sat there mulling it all over in my head, the island rod bobbin suddenly pulled up, dropped and pulled up once more, I kind of stared in disbelief for a second because it had only been out 10 or 15 minutes. Half expecting a Coot to be the culprit, I scrambled for the rod and peeled my line from the scum that had accumulated around the margin. A couple fish spooked around 10 yards out as the line rose from the bottom and I thought to myself "was it just a liner?" but the line continued to tighten as I wound down and a vortex appeared just off the island, I was finally in!!!
I had to sink my tip and keep the pressure on to clear it of the gap in the islands to my right, but once clear, all was fine. The fish trudged up and down my margin beneath the scum with the odd hairy lunge but nothing major. I was however struggling to net it as I couldn't truly see the fish and the scum had built up so much so it was like pushing my net through soup. I caught a glimpse of a flank as it rolled and left a clear window through the scum, I was almost certain I knew which fish it was as it dove back down so I was even more careful for the remainder of the fight. Eventually she slid over the drawcord... She was mine!!!

I donned the waders to retrieve the rig and get the rod out of the way. Upon peeling the mesh back, I saw the unmistakable flank of the one I really wanted, she was absolutely nailed and every bit as impressive as the photo's I'd first seen of her. She has to be up there with the coolest fish to have graced my net and I was buzzing!!!

I messaged the work chat and Kingy and Aiden were down within minutes to help out with the photos, she pulled the scales round to 30lb 4oz but the weight was of no concern, of all the fish I had seen from the North Lake this was probably the most unique and one I had hoped would make it's way into my album. I was made up and the relief to have finally netted my first North Lake carp was massive, I hadn't done much time but it had felt like an age.

We did some water shots before returning the fish and getting the rods back out. The surface scum had really built up by this point and it was becoming a nightmare to keep rods in the water. I persevered as long as I could, but the swim next to me got filled in with bait and the fish vanished. So I decided to cut my losses and pack up as it was too late to go looking for the fish again and I felt it best to take the positives from the session and leave it til next time.